Fish Hatchery

Yesterday we went to the Fish Hatchery. It was such a beautiful day (about 75 degrees, and the sun was actually shining... that doesn't happen a lot here! Ha!) so we decided to head on over to the Bonneville Dam and see what the Fish Hatchery was all about!

We often joke that you know your kid lives in Oregon when they can't stand the sun... that's exactly how it was yesterday. Ava and Halle had their  sunglasses on all day, and they were complaining that they were too hot and sweaty, even though it was only 75 degrees. 

At the beginning of the fish hatchery, there is a beautiful fish fountain, and it was fun to watch all the water splash. By the way, what exactly is the fish hatchery? It's a place where they grow and hatch fish to release into the wild. To catch and keep a native fish (one that wasn't from the hatchery) is illegal. If you catch a native, you must release it back into the wild. Part of the hatchery's job is to clip the fins of the fish, that's how you tell if it's a native or not. Native's fins aren't clipped and the hatchery's fins are. Also, some of the fish have microchips put in them so you can locate them via GPS. Pretty cool, huh? Anyways, the hatchery raises about 8 million Fall Chinook, 1.2 million Coho, 200 thousand Summer Steelhead, and 60 thousand Winter Steelhead (all types of fish) annually. The hatchery is where you can see the eggs being incubated, and watch some of the fish grow before they are released into the wild. You can also feed some trout that they keep on hand. It's a pretty cool place, especially if you're into fishing, which Nate is. 

The map of the hatchery.

Inside the egg incubation building. This was a display of the different kinds of fish.

Halle was our tour guide. She had several different maps and gave us directions.

Along the walkways of the hatchery, they have spray painted little fish indicating which way to go. However, Ava and Halle thought that they were "clues"... clues to who knows what, but this was probably their favorite part!

Here is a pond of Sturgeon fish. They are huge. This picture really doesn't do them justice. Sturgeons have appeared in the fossil record approx. 200 million years ago, making them among one of the most ancient fishes. If you ask me, they are pretty ugly fishes. :)

Near the sturgeon pond, there is an underwater viewing house. Here, you can see the ginormous sturgeons swim. This viewing pond is home to "Herman the Sturgeon" is approx. 10 feet long and weighs about 425 lbs. He is over 60 years old. I wish these pictures did the size of the sturgeons justice, but they don't. Oh well.

Here is another fish pond... Ava looked at everything through her "telescope" which was a rolled up map. 

I also learned a very valuable lesson about Halle. If there are rules, she will break them. She didn't stay behind any of the bars the kept people back from the ponds. She had to go under the bars and lean as far over as she could without falling in. Learning this about her scared me a little bit... she really just doesn't care to follow rules. I've already had to deal with this at home, on a much smaller scale. Examples: she won't put on a diaper when I tell her to. She refuses to eat breakfast at the table. When we're in church, and I tell her to use her soft voice, she just gets louder. She talks during prayers.... I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with her. :)

 Now going back to the underground sturgeon viewing place... Ava is standing and measuring up to the average length of a sturgeon. 

Nate was pretty mesmerized by the fish.... you can tell just how excited he is by the look on his face...

 

I thought this picture was pretty cool because you can see the tail of the sturgeon near Halle and the head of the sturgeon near Ava.

We also got to feed the rainbow trout. It was fun to watch them go all crazy and fight for a little pellet of food.

It was my favorite when they would jump out of the water. 

After feeding the fish, we washed our hands off in the fountain. Ava knew she wasn't supposed to dip her hands in the pond part of the fountain, so she just touched the drops of water coming up...

Halle, however, dipped her hands right into it. Even after we told her not to... Remember her total disregard for rules?

We stopped in the gift shop to look at the little trinkets. Well, Ava and I looked around. There is some pretty fragile glass stuff, and Halle thought it was fun to pick them up and we are pretty sure she was on the path to destroy whatever she touched, so Nate took her outside. However, we did purchase an Oregon Marionberry Chocolate Bar for Nate and me....

and the girls got suckers. It was so funny to watch them eat their suckers. 

Ava just had to pose for the picture...

and they loved the fact that the suckers turned their tongues different colors. 

After the fish hatchery, we went to the Bonneville Dam. This is a propeller from the dam that helped produce electricity for about 60 years. It's massively huge, and quite a site to see. 

I loved seeing all the water and all the power that the water has. 

We ended the day by going to some burger joint.... we ate outside since it was such a beautiful day. Halle had the lid to our water bottle, and somehow Nate got it from her and he kept pulling the cap out of her ear... you know, like the old "quarter from the ear" magic trick? Her face was priceless every time she thought the cap came out of her ear. 

Thank heavens we invested in a fantastic camera... I was able to capture some of her sweet facial expressions... these 2 pictures are pictures that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Seriously. 

 
  It was such a nice day, and it was fun to just get out and be a family. I just can't help but think of how I have the cutest girls on the planet, and how lucky I am to have the most amazing husband ever. He has surely stepped up these past few weeks.... cooking and cleaning and taking care of the girls while I haven't felt very good. I love the way he interacts with Ava and Halle. I am truly blessed.